Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law

by Richard Rothstein, Leah Rothstein

The Color of Law brilliantly recounted how government at all levels created segregation. Just Action describes how we can begin to undo it.

In the six years since its initial publication, The Color of Law has become a landmark work, which―through its nearly one million copies sold―has helped to define the fractious age in which we live. Aware that twenty-first-century segregation continues to promote entrenched inequality, Richard Rothstein has now teamed with housing policy expert Leah Rothstein to write Just Action, a blueprint for concerned citizens and community leaders. This book describes dozens of activities that readers and supporters can undertake in their own communities to make their commitment real, producing victories that might finally challenge residential segregation and help remedy America’s profoundly unconstitutional past.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Race, Sociology, Urban Planning, History, Social Justice

352 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2023

About the author

Richard Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and a Fellow at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He lives in California, where he is a Fellow of the Haas Institute at the University of California–Berkeley.

Reviews

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a followup to Rothstein’s book, The Color of Law, in which he convincingly made the case that discriminatory home loan policies of the past are largely responsible for segregated housing patterns and disparities in wealth today. In this book Rothstein, together with his daughter as co-author, explore examples of action that can be taken by people today toward remedying past wrongs.

Since the problem being corrected was created by real estate policies, much of this book consists of describing the housing policies and issues of today. Addressing past wrongs which were explicitly race based is made difficult by today’s Supreme Court’s rulings which prohibit race based remedies. This book suggests that many of the rulings of today’s Court deserve the same response given to the Dred Scott case in 1857 (i.e. extreme distain).

The immediate problem to be overcome is the fact that there’s a shortage of housing for all middle and low income households. Likewise, many lingering housing issues continue to contribute to segregation by race and wealth. This book urges a number of measures that contribute to an even distribution of housing values within communities. However, these issues are complicated. If and when any success is achieved, constant vigilance to prevent reversion to undesirable trends is required.

This book is filled with examples where hard work in some communities have managed to take steps to improve housing availability. But the examples seem small and scattered compared to the magnitude and widespread nature of the economic forces and racial biases that need to be overcome. The tone of the book is positive, but he spirit of optimism failed to reach me.

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rothstein’s previous book, The Color of Law, is excellent. He convincingly shows how legal policies of housing discrimination created the urban ghettoes, inflicting long lasting effects on Black communities. It is a significant reason why the average wealth of Black families conspicuously and persistently lags that of white families. Here, with an assist from his daughter, he addresses the question of exactly how these wrongs can be righted.

Obviously it’s easier to describe a problem than it is to provide workable remedies, and this is the main drawback to this book. There is a great deal of material comparing the various programs that have been tried in multiple locales which at times becomes tedious. It turns out that fixing these problems is a very tricky business. A lot of things can go wrong while trying to make things better. A recurring theme is that more housing is needed, but not only for the poor, but also for the lower middle class. And it’s best if the areas of housing contain a mixture of classes and races. Unfortunately, once this goal is attained constant vigilance is needed to maintain the proper balance. When simply left to unregulated market forces, wealthier people will move out of a neighborhood when too many poorer folks move in. The opposite problem also occurs—if investments are made to improve a lower income neighborhood, people with money move in, further improving the area but also driving up home prices and taxes thus making it more difficult for less wealthy people to move in or to stay (i.e. gentrification).

Another problem is that bank appraisals are lower while property assessments are higher for houses in black neighborhoods compared with their values based on price. This means that it becomes more difficult to get a loan on favorable terms, making the home more difficult to afford, while at the same time charging the homeowners more than their fair share of property taxes.

The authors suggest many many possible programs and policies that can be instituted to address these and other housing desegregation obstacles. They repeatedly bemoan the NIMBY mentality that often resists the types of policies that they promote because many homeowners rightly or wrongly believe that certain changes would impact their communities in negative ways. It’s interesting to consider that in order to achieve the desired ends, legislation or regulations may be required to override the will of the majority in certain communities. It’s not exactly democratic. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I wonder if much of the NIMBY mentality really is anti-poor rather than anti-black, but activists certainly find that it has more more punch to label their opponents as racist rather than merely elitist.

This is just one guy’s opinion, but I think there might be a better chance of achieving the desired goals with different tactics and a different tone. First, stop pretending there won’t be costs—financial and otherwise. Be upfront about what those uncomfortable costs are going to be. Then, instead of saying that “all whites are the villains and therefore need to make restitution,” or the slightly better, “whites benefitted at the expense of blacks and therefore there should be some kind of restoration or reparations made,” the better tactical approach might be to point to all the problems that concentrated poverty and segregation have caused society as a whole (crime, drug use, racial conflict, failing schools, homelessness, etc) and explain that the way out of this morass is to promote desegregated communities and affordable housing. Desegregated by race, income level, and class. If we did this the future would be better for everyone. Therefore the work needs to be done—and paid for—by everyone. And this is going to mean that if you have been one of society’s winners you can count on feeling the pinch more. But these should be viewed as growing pains, not punishments. And they will be temporary. And all our kids and grandkids will benefit.

[Nina Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dang I’m sad this book fell a little short, given The Color Of Law’s dramatic impact. Though I did learn some interesting facts and anecdotes about a few new policies, I found that pretty much none of the chapters truly answered the questions they posed and just threw some trivia and history at you. For example Chapter 4 “Is Homeownership the Answer?” (to address the black-white wealth gap) explores a lot of facts related to how differences in the effects homeownership for white vs black families impacts the racial wealth gap but does not provide a clear stance on whether policies focused on homeownership for black families is the answer.

[Mike Costello · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed his first book much more. I did enjoy the anecdotal stories of communities that had the foresight to try and address housing segregation in the ‘50’s and ‘60s.

For the people they are trying hardest to reach this book will be met with a shrug, or worse, ignored as “elitist.” This is a shame as they discuss serious issues that warrant further dialog. I felt the book went a little peachy at times and I’m supportive of most of their positions.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good condensing of critical issues that advocates and activists can focus on. Nothing new or mind-blowing.

[LaShanda Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read “The Color of Law” in 2021, so I was excited to pick up the sequel, “Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law”. This time, Richard Rothstein teams up with his daughter Leah to show how regular people can step up and fix the housing policy mess we’re stuck in. While “The Color of Law” focused on the history of these issues, “Just Action” goes further by giving a practical guide with real examples of communities making positive changes. If you care about racial justice and want to do more than just talk about it, this book shows you how to act.

Let’s hope policymakers and lawmakers finally listen and address the housing crisis in this country!
A huge thanks to NetGalley, the publisher & authors for the opportunity to read this advance copy of this book.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compared to the first book, this one just didn’t land. I give 2.5 but rounded to 3. There’s plenty of good ideas in this book but I don’t see an impact. The first book was such an exposure of housing discrimination but this didn’t seem to add anything.

[Elizabeth]

It's good but I'll read more over time.

[Jaime Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, contrary to its predecessor “The Color of Law”, aims to inspire and encourage activists to enact changes in their communities by showing examples of how substantial changes have been put in place in different cities across the country. While not necessarily as history heavy as the previous book, “Just Action” does a great job in showing how regular Americans can bring about change in their communities and bring in other residents to make their voices even more heard.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last review here for awhile, I just want to shoutout a Chicagoland activist: Just Action is full of good, straightforward information and detailed examples of how, when, and where people have successfully organized to combat segregation and white supremacy. I’m excited to support and follow Tonika Johnson, in particular. Here’s one of her recent projects: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-to...

[Serge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a courageous blueprint for inspiring a new civil rights movement that dares to defy. Such a movement would begin by addressing continued inequities in housing tht perpetuate de facto segregation in our major urban centers.
Here are the excerpts that stood out
Just Action
p.42 Beginning in 1883, the Supreme Court asserted that the Constitution prohibits remedies for private discrimination against African Americans, effectively annihilating the clear intent of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. Nearly a century went by while the Court blessed various impositions of second-class citizenship for descendants of the enslaved.
In 1968, it changed its mind about its 1883 permission for private discrimination. The Court decreed that the 1866 Civil Rights Act prohibiting it had correctly implemented the Thirteenth Amendment’s intent to ban the “badges” of slavery.
[In 1986] the Court conclude that while the Constitution permitted race-conscious hiring preferences, it also allowed Congress to effectively annihilate them by prohibiting the protection of those new employees from being laid off from lack of seniority, their historic exclusion notwithstanding.
Nine years after that, in 1995, the Court went further: it found it impossible to conclude that African Americans generally have been disadvantaged in the United States, so determined that the Constitution permits a remedy only for individuals or groups who themselves suffered from specific acts of discrimination. The legacies of centuries of slavery and segregation were now deemed to have no relevance for contemporary inequality.
p.44 In 1876, the Supreme Court said the federal government had no power under the Constitution to interfere with a Ku Klux Klan mob that massacred more than a hundred African Americans in Colfax, Louisiana; in 1966 (more than three thousand lynchings later), the Court revised its position, saying the federal government could prosecute Klan murders if a state government could prosecute Klan murders if a state government was looking the other way.

p.45 In the 1857 Dred Scott case, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that it had been unconstitutional for Congress to ban slavery in western territories that were not yet states and that African Americans , free or enslaved, could not be American citizens, even in states that prohibited slavery.
p.48 Supporters of civil rights and civil liberties generally consider it too risky to renounce judicial supremacy. They fear that we may need a Supreme Court to prohibit enforcement of repressive laws if a hostile Congress and president control the government… This fear ignores the fact that the Supreme Court has almost always been on the side of repressing rights, not protecting them.
There was only one brief period when the Court, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, was more likely to protect African Americans’ rights and the civil liberties of all: the fifteen years from 1954 to 1969. Before and since then, with rare exceptions, the Court has consistently enforced racial discrimination and blocked efforts to overcome it
p.58 …an organization of the formerly incarcerated to explain how criminal background checks make it difficult for those with arrest or conviction histories to find housing.
p.63 When the economy collapsed in 2008, foreclosures took homes from a disproportionate share of African Americans because banks targeted them for fraudulently marketed loans.
p.65 These days, about 40 percent of African American and 75 percent of white households own homes. The ownership gap narrowed a bit by 2000 but widened after the housing bubble burst in 2008 and is now greater than it was sixty years ago. You might think that if racial differences in homeownership was the most significant cause of the wealth gap, the white-black wealth ratio would be more like 2-to-1 (75-to-40), not 20-to-1. A good part of the explanation is that most African American owners have homes in neighborhoods where property values haven’t skyrocketed the way they have in white neighborhoods.
p.65 African Americans who down tend to buy less expensive homes with more debt, buy their first homes later in life, and are less likely to sustain long-term homeownership than whites. These characteristics limit the wealth accumulation potential of owning a home.
p.67 White home buyers are more than twice as likely as African Americans to get down payments from equity retrieved when they sell a previous home. With the black homeownership rate barey half that of the white one, this option is less available to African Americans, who are more likely to pull money from retirement accounts, putting their future security at greater risk.
p.85 In the 1970s, federal courts ordered school districts to desegregate by busing white children to predominantly black schools and vice versa. In practice, politically powerful white parents sabotaged the two-way design; busing mostly dispatched black children to predominantly white schools. This set up fraught situations in which black children were subject to abuse and discrimination at their destinations.
p.96 Some African Americans reject the goal of stable racial diversity tat cn result from gentrification. They hope to improve neighborhood quality while simultaneously maintaining an area’s African American cultural and racial homogeneity. This aspiration is reinforced by public officials and housing and urban development experts who convince themselves that more investment in low-income black neighborhoods can transform them into places with equal opportunity while preserving their racially exclusive character. But this is a contradiction: it is impossible, however attractive the idea may seem. “Separate but equal” doesn’t work any better for neighborhoods than it did for restaurants, buses, or schools.
p.100 [policies that can prevent displacement from gentrification] These policies include inclusionary (mixed-income) zoning, rent control, prohibition of evictions except for just cause, prevention of security deposit theft, limits on condominium conversions, support for community land trusts, regulation of phony home sales, and property tax freezes.
p.103 From 2001 to 2019, renters’ median incomes rose only 3 percent while their rents rose 15 percent. After the pandemic, rents rose even more and became one of the biggest causes of runaway inflation in 2022.
p.114 African Americans are arrested at a rate more than double their population share. By age twenty-three, half of black men have arrest records. One in three will eventually serve prison time, compared to one in seventeen white men. African Americans make up more than a third of those in jail, in prison, on probation, or on parole, close to three times their share of the population.
p.115 Men and women recently released from jail or prison, especially African Americans, may often begin by being homeless. They are then at higher risk of being arrested, jailed, and convicted, as may cities now enforce “quality of life” offenses, like sleeping in public spaces. Homelessness and unemployment can lead to more crimes of necessity, such as theft, keeping the revolving door of incarceration turning.
p.116 The stigma of incarceration is difficult to erase. Court documents may help, and advocates can push for their adoption, but their impact will likely be limited. Trusted community organizations should also vouch for prospective tenants and present letters from friends, family, religious leaders, and employers. The best way to improve housing access for the formerly convicted is to address the stigma of criminal records directly, by educating landlords and passing and then enforcing ban-the-box ordinances for public and private housing.
p.126 [Contract Buyers League in Chicago] The Contract Buyers League filed two federal lawsuits against the sellers, alleging civil rights violations, conspiracy, and fraud. The league lost both. In one case the judge permitted evidence that there was no discrimination against blacks on account of race because speculators also preyed on a few mixed-race couples and Hispanics,. The foreman of the all-white jury boasted that he’d voted to end “the mess Earl Warren made with Brown v Board of Education and all that nonsense.”
During the 1950s and ‘60s, some 85 percent of all black-owned homes in Chicago were bought on contract. Most contract sale victims never received even partial justice.
p.128 In other cities besides Chicago, such as Baltimore, Detroit, and Cincinnati, real estate agents took advantage of black home buyers by purporting to sell homes to them while in actuality they were not. African Americans thought they had purchased homes but the contracts they were offered provided none of the security and equity of a conventional, FHA, or VA loan. With a mortgage, if an owner falls behind in payments, lenders can foreclose, but the family first has a chance to bring payments up to date. If an owner sells, he or she can retrieve cash from a prior down payment and the principal portion of monthly charges paid. The owner also gains from a property’s value appreciation.
Realtors who perpetuated the contract sale fraud sometimes initiated it by blockbusting, terrifying white residents that their property values would plummet because black families were about to move nearby. It was untrue: property values were likely to climb when African Americans became neighbors, because they were almost always willing to pay more than whites; they fced such a small selection of homes on offer. Nonetheless, terrified owners sold out to blockbusting realtors at prices far below their true values.
…realtors then charged prices far above market value to African Americans desperate for housing. Interest rates on contract sales were exorbitant, much higher than what whites with mortgages had to pay. Speculators sometimes entrapped black buyers by pretending to represent them in negotiations without disclosing that they themselves were the owners. Contract sellers formed syndicates of white professionals—lawyers, doctors, businessmen, and politicians—to finance the speculators’ operations by purchasing portions of their portfolios of contracts. These investors reaped large profits that made their way into white middle-class inheritances, which now contribute to the white wealth advantage.
p.129 Real estate salesmen misrepresented properties’ deteriorated condition and colluded with building inspectors, who then required expensive repairs that victimized families could not afford; it became an excuse for eviction, after which operators could perpetuate an identical fraud upon another black family in need of housing.
Agents who participated in these schemes purchased properties with mortgages from the same banks that refused to finance African Americans for the same houses or, indeed, for homes anywhere. The real estate agencies, brokers, banks, and syndicate partners that colluded in this system of exploitation, have in many cases, identifiable institutional successors today.
p.133 Contract selling in black neighborhoods diminished after 1968, when passage of the Fair Housing Act caused the Federal Housing Administration to consider African Americans and neighborhoods in which they lived eligible for its mortgage insurance.
p.156 Before the state of Michigan ordered Detroit to conduct a property reassessment in 2017, it had overvalued houses in black neighborhoods for decades. Home prices had fallen with the decline of the auto industry; still assessed amounts upon which the city calculated property taxes often increased. When owners could not pay these discriminatorily inflated taxes the county foreclosed and resold their homes to investors to recoup the unpaid taxes. Between 2011 and 2015, Wayne County foreclosed on 100,000 Detroit homes, one in four in the city, for overdue taxes. Ten percent of the foreclosures were due to improperly inflated tax assessments. Most victims were black.
p.214 African American home buyers don’t just face racial discrimination in appraisals, property listings, credit scores, and mortgages. After overcoming these hurdles, they need to take out homeowner’s insurance.
p.233 School segregation makes neighborhood integration difficult, if not impossible, and neighborhood segregation makes school segregation inevitable.
p.239 Some white suburbs have excess school capacity as birthrates fall and populations age. A voluntary busing program can offer those seats to urban African American families who seek integrated educations for their families.
Suburban and urban school districts can also allow students to voluntarily cross their boundaries. The receiving schools should invest in making their campuses welcoming environments to children from other districts by offering mentoring to those students and professional development to teachers and staff. Transportation authorities ca offer free trips to students traveling to more distant schools.

[Tristin McCreight · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off I just decided to stop reading this half way through the semester so don’t judge me for my slowness on this book. Honestly fine but if I read for fun the last chapter could be a whole book on its own.

[Renee Gall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting ideas and issues discussed that need to be talked about more, but Richard please edit next time.

[Ana W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so glad that Richard Rothstein & Leah Rothstein wrote this book! It's a follow up to Mr. Rothstein's book, The Color Of Law, which I highly recommend. I have learned so much reading both of these books. Just Action stands on it's own; you don't need to read The Color Of Law first. The Color Of Law focused on the US Government's sanction and enforcement of racism in housing policy. Just action, blends information about past (and current) racist policies with insight into what can be done to lesson the effects and harm done by these policies. This book is a must read for anyone interested in racial justice in the USA. I hope it will be widely read. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

[Viral · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. I enjoyed The Color of Law, I thought it was a useful book that educated many folks about redlining and the history of government-led segregation. This book is the followup, answering the question many folks had after reading The Color of Law: so what do we do about this? This book contains many practical and ongoing efforts across the country to fight segregation at a policy and community level. They discuss everything from increasing access to homeownership, passing just cause eviction and rent control, inclusionary zoning, supporting community land trusts, and many many other practical things folks can support and get involved in.

However, it's worth noting I learned about this book because of an event hosted here in Chicago by the National Public Housing Museum. So I went to said event, and heard Richard and Leah speak, and purchased the book there. They were even kind enough to sign my copy. But it is because of this event that I have to give this book a 4, because Richard was so aggressively clear at this event that he sees no future in federal policy changes coming to the rescue. And in many ways, I completely agree. Realistically, the feds aren't gonna do anything, Congress is gonna remain deadlocked, HUD isn't going to have the influx of cash to build new public housing anytime soon, and the SCOTUS is almost certainly not going to rule in our favor. But then I read the book, and encountered many policy points and recommendations that would require federal policy changes or laws. Now, I think there is a value in struggling for federal policy changes, even if we can't guarantee we win, but it just feels dissonant.

My other criticism of this book is while they are very good at identifying WHAT we need to do, they have very little to say on HOW we go about building the coalitions needed to do everything described here. Many of the things described in this book are going to be brutal, years long political battles. It's going to require diverse, stable, multi-generational, multi-racial organizing to build the organizational power and political will to pass this kind of agenda. On this point, the Rothsteins have precious little to say. The story about the "map twins" and the church groups working together is nice, but that's not something that's scalable. Personally, I put far more stock in the kind of organizing we are starting to see across the country: coalitions of community groups working with militant progressive unions led by and made up of women of color in fields like hospitality, healthcare, and education, who collectively run candidates for office, hold protests and sit ins, develop political education, and provide mutual aid. There was very little representation of that kind of work in this book, but that's not too surprising since this was written by two academics, not two movement organizers.

A useful book for seeing what we need to do, but not a great road map for how to do these things. Still an overall worthwhile read!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be an interesting book to discuss. I like that it is trying to move us towards action, and it definitely has me considering what I can do.

In the wrap up questions section, I found I really disagree with what they had to say, especially about white privilege. I understand the overall idea of trying to keep language simple and not inflammatory, to better reach a wider range of people. It did not bother me at all that the book didn't talk about white privilege, because that wasn't necessary for their point. But their thoughts about white privilege I disagree with.

some random notes I saved:
plan, housing opportunities, investing in segregated black neighborhoods, opening up white communities!
Inclusionary zoning, set aside rules
holding accountable – figuring out who was involved in the past and needs to contribute now
west mount airy – This we believe about our neighborhood pamphlet – shared culture and identity as integrated community
oak park – percy julian – prohibited for sale signs – diversity statement – oak park has committed itself to equality not only because it is legal, but because it is right; not only because equality is ethical, but because it is desirable for us and our children …. our goal is for people of widely differing background sto do more than live next to one another. Through interaction, we believe we can reconcile the apparent paradox of appreciating and even celebrating our difference while at the same time developing consensus on a shared vision for the future. Home equity insurance program

identify non discriminatory realtors, and then encourage individuals to use them. Persuade whites of the importance / benefit. List of arguments to sway, to answer common concerns / questions. Living room discussions, speakers bureau, education series, letter to editor campaign, community forums

set aside low interest mortgage assistance for home buys whose purchases further integration, or for minorities

education on subsidized vouchers

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a follow-up to The Color of Law, this book provides suggestions for how local groups can impact the segregation that has become built into our housing system. While provided in a more narrated form, I almost felt like it should have included bullet points and maybe checklists to separate the action items from the information or stories provided around the suggestions. I would suggest that anyone wanting to read this book read The Color of Law first to provide a solid foundation; however, there is a lot of repetition between the two books. Additionally, the book focused on groups, which may not be something everyone is comfortable with or able to be involved in. I would have liked to have seen suggestions for how individuals could contribute. Covid showed us how postcards could help influence the vote. Are there similar things that can be done in regards to housing? I fear not enough people will read this book or be motivated enough to join local action groups. We are great at quick bursts of enthusiasm. This problem needs strong, continued focus at both the local and national level.

Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.

[Rachel Hammond · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a let down after The Color of Law. The authors compiled as many ideas as they could and summarized them with little analysis or evaluation. I want to know what they think will work and what will have an impact.

There were also too many statements that felt like opinions and that were too broad to feel like they were backed up by actual research. On page 234 they write, "[The National Association of Realtors] advices agents that using scores in this way intensifies segregation... But even if realtors take their association's advice (and few do), the tests are hard to avoid." The "(and few do)" seems like such a throw away comment. How do we know that few do? What does this even mean? The book is not cited in a way that makes it obvious where there are facts to back up statements.

Overall, reading the book was a disjointed experience. There were too many different sections that moved forward and backward in time. The authors seemed inclined towards one policy in one section and against it in another (busing, for example). The last section on integrating schools felt like it came out of nowhere. I was hoping for a lot more analysis.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Rothstein follows up 2017's The Color of Law with Just Action, in collaboration with his daughter Leah Rothstein. While The Color of Law recounted the "unconstitutional fashion by which government at all levels created segregation", Just Action outlines the steps that can be taken to undo it, illustrating the power everyday citizens have in their own hands.

Broken into four parts, Just Action tackles subjects ranging from the Supreme Court to gentrification to contract housing to realtor bias, affordable housing, and rent control. It covers historical and current events. They shine the light on existing laws in place that are not leveraged to reduce segregation, and demonstrate over and over again how an action may start small and have a large impact. Their research takes them across the country to a wide range of neighborhoods and cities, state and local governments.

They provide real world examples in numerous anecdotes highlighting the institutional systems in place that propagated segregation. In Just Action, they show that it will take systemic action to reverse it.

My thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the ARC.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

getting very tired of goodreads shutting down while I’m writing a review for no apparent reason and I lose everything I’d written out.

3.5 but 4 stars for the content/research over the downgrades for the structure/organization.

This had a lot of new to me ideas and strategies (especially as someone in the housing world) and the anecdotes around local initiatives and efforts were really interesting! I’m curious how they found them all because some were very local and it’s cool to see efforts like that be given a larger platform/more recognition.

But it was pretty chaotically organized (the chapter sections felt like they jumped from topic to topic randomly) and the range in suggestions made the target audience elusive. There were things that could be done by community groups/activists but also suggestions for banks, real estate agencies, local govts, existing nonprofits, etc. So not a manual for any one person - kinda take what you can use. Maybe this type of work is better suited to a future project like an online database than a book!

[T.A. Bound · Rating 4 out of 5]

This excellent and timely book belongs on everyone's reading list. Not only does it outline many of the systemic efforts by corporations and government to discriminate against and impoverish African-Americans through our sordid history, but it suggests ways to end, combat and remedy the lingering effects of generations of segregation and discrimination. No one can be expected to follow all of their suggestions, but you can find one that appeals to you or meets your gifts.
Perhaps most importantly, it covers some of the most subtle and insidious efforts to segregate our population by race and names names, allowing the reader to not only counter the current fad at denying the very existence of these efforts, but to target those who bear some of the responsibility to rectify their former actions so people can request these corporations and governments to make amends for their past unconscionable actions.

[Kevin Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the authors relate anecdotes of successful actions taken in the past to integrate communities and address the fallout of housing segregation, the result is enlightening and useful. Less so are the suggestions of things that we “should” do when such actions have not been successfully implemented before.

In the FAQ at the end of the book, the authors claim that they don’t want white people to necessarily feel guilt, or to feel that all white people are to blame for discrepancies in housing, the main text doesn’t always come across in that way. Their political biases are also painfully apparent. This is unfortunate, as the issues that the book addresses are real, and actions can indeed be taken to remedy past failures (as well as ensure that the same failures do not recur in the future). Their approach is likely to alienate many readers.

[Kasandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first book. Not horrible, mind you, but in terms of what activists and community orgs can do, this makes it clear the main hurdle to overcome these days is building enough affordable housing, period (not just affordable for the lowest-income folks, but for low to middle-income folks as well). Lots of info in here about how things got to be in the current crisis situation nationwide, but this is frustrating and disappointing on the whole about "how to challenge". The solution is lots of hands, lots of protests, lots of letter-writing, lots of community mobilization. It won't be easy, it won't be fast, and considering how many people struggle just to find time for a personal life outside making it paycheck to paycheck, I have to say this left me feeling disheartened, not inspired, and certainly not hopeful.

[Joanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great follow-up to Rothstein's earlier book, The Color of Law. It was full of more information and data that is just stunning regarding the racial inequality that continues to exist in the United States. In fact, some of the information this book shares has already prompted me to continue my own research in my own regional area. What frustrated me a bit, however, with book was the authors' seemingly simply approach to solution. "Governments should just do this, Realtors should just do this, Society should just do this." If only solutions were just that simple. I don't disagree that those things should happen, but how do we pay for those things? Especially when politics involve so many voters who are so ill-informed? How do we solve these complex problems that have evolved over time when the mechanisms of change are so clunky????

[AnnieM · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I was waiting for! I had read the “Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein and learned so much about the de facto and de juris discrimination that has happened and is still happening in many communities. This book follows up on the research of that book and is written by Richard and his daughter Leah. This book lays the foundation of what the challenges are and shares solutions created and implemented by communities. There are so many inspiring actions outlined here, this book gave me hope! Some of the ideas came from groups in Chicago and since I live here I feel that I can take the next step in addressing the inequities in my community. I recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and W.W. Norton & Company for an ARC and I left this honest review voluntarily.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just Action is the follow-up to Richard Rothstein's previous book The Color of Law. While not necessary, I recommend reading that book first. In that first book, Rothstein slams the door shut on any notion that segregation was de facto. By doing so, he proves that it is the government's responsibility to provide redress for the damage caused by past and present discrimination. In this book, Rothstein, with the help of his housing-expert daughter, provide a myriad of ways toward such regress. As policy experts, this book is written more for those with a stake in designing, implementing, and changing policy. Anyone with a stake in those realms - especially government officials - should read this book so that these things are on our minds when dealing with policy.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great guidebook for activists. If you want a more equal and diverse neighborhood, this book has plenty of ideas for making it happen.

The challenges created by segregation are deeply-rooted. The authors point out (rightly so) that, “[a]s a society, we are always more sensitive to unfairness experienced by whites when it is designed to remedy unfairness experienced by blacks.” But redressing segregation starts with talking to our neighbors and getting to know their needs. Learning helps too, that’s what “The Color of Law” is for. But start by talking to your neighbors.

I was excited to see my town, Cleveland Heights, get a mention!

[Ruthie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just Action extends the work Richard Rothstein did in The Color of Law, his groundbreaking account of how the federal government promoted and enforced residential racial segregation, offering practical ways to attempt to ameliorate and reverse its long-term effects. Having read and loved The Color of Law, I don't find Just Action unduly repetitive. It provides additional and updated historical detail while obviating the need to read the first book (though the first book is so eye-opening, I think every American should read it.). As does The Color of Law, Just Action deserves a place in every public and high school library.

Five stars

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a follow up to Rothstein’s The Color of Law, a fascinating and detailed look at how the government contributed to segregation within our cities.

Just Action felt like a mix of education and call to action. There were so many things that I did not know, especially when it comes to renting and tenancy, that I already feel the need to go back and read parts of the book again.

I appreciated the chapters in the book that called out specific ways to support your local communities.

[Scott C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike many other nonfiction social science books that focus on social Justice, this one does not just give the history and minor options at the end. This book is embedded with efforts throughout decades to challenge segregation in a multitude of ways. While the color of law does great to give the history, this book does both, and both well. It’s nice to hear how people all over the United States attempted to end or combat segregation.

This book is a must read, and I hope it starts some great conversations. It would go well with “poverty, by America” Matthew Desmond